Teacher’s name: Jason Aceto Date of lesson: 2 Grade Level: 6-8 Topic: Examining how the resulting consequences of cross-cultural interactions in 1512 share common threads with conflicts today. Objectives:Student will understand thatthe result of these interactions gave way for further expansion and conquests in later eras. Student will know and understand the facts surrounding key conquests, battles, events and the rise of expansionism. Student will be able to create a video newscast detailing the order of events during the Spanish expansion and conquests of the Aztec Empire. Maine Learning Results Alignment: MaineLearning Results: Social Studies-E.History
E1 Historical knowledge, concepts, themes and patterns.
Grade 6-8 "The Expansion and Interaction of Civilizations, 600CE-1450CE" Students understand major eras, major enduring themes, and historic influences in the history of the various regions of the world.
b. Identify and analyze major historic eras, major historical eras, major enduring themes, turning points, events, consequences, and people in the history of the various regions of the world. Rationale: Through this learning result we can allow students to dive into the enduring themes of this historic era and compare these to the themes of conflicts today.
Assessment: Formative (Assessment for Learning) I will have the students fill out self-assessment questionnaires before they form their groups. This will help me to see what they already know and what else they need to know. After they fill these sheets out, I will go over their responses with the entire class. Next, it will be imperative for each student to retrieve their laptops and textbooks in order to begin researching information to complete their summative assessment.
Summative(Assessment of Learning) In order to assess what the students have learned, each student will be placed in a group with 3 of their peers. They will research a given event in the Aztec/Spanish interactions and create a newscast about it. Then after creating this video and sharing it with the class, they will fill out reflective self-evaluators to judge how well they felt they did on their project and suggest improvements. Also, as a class, each student will fill out the same self-assessment questionnaire to see how their knowledge has grown from their research. Integration: This lesson will integrate type II technology in the form of iMovie software. This final product will require the students to utilize this movie making technology and create a creative and historically accurate newscast that will discuss the events that transpired during the Aztec and Spanish conflict. Other forms of technology that will be utilized in the creation and presentation of this final product will be a wireless internet connection and an LCD projector which the students will use to present their newscasts. The integration of other subjects will come through by way of critical reading and writing skills which the students must utilize during their research. Other English skills that will be integrated will be analysis of documents and creative writing that must be used in the preparing of a script for their news cast. Finally, the students will have to understand the order of events in this cultural clash in order to present a news cast, therefore mathematical skills such as orderly sequential thinking will come into play. Groupings: Students will enter the class and they will take their normal seats. I will group them by having the class line up in order of whether they were Aztecs or Spanish in the previous lesson. Then, I will choose two Aztec students and two Spanish students to work together in a group of four. This will ensure that groups will be comprised of members that will be proficient in both points of view in this conflict, therefore allowing their video to be more objective. This grouping will also allow students to collaborate more on their research and utilize what they have learned from past lessons. Differentiated Instruction: Linguistic - students will be writing and reading while creating their graphic organizers and while creating the scripts for their newscasts.
Logical - students will be creating a timeline with the chronological order of the events that occurred during the Spanish invasion of the Aztec Empire.
Spatial - students will be working with pictures detailing the Aztec/Spanish conflict which will enable these students to derive critical information about this topic through a different medium.
Bodily-kinesthetic - students will be using the computer to create and to edit their footage in iMovie during the finalization of their newscasts.
Musical - Students will be allowed to create a funky news jingle for the introduction and credits of their broadcast.
Intrapersonal - Students will be working independently on their research.
Interpersonal - Students will be working in groups and then sharing their newscasts with the class.
Naturalist – Students will be able to go outside to film or walk to other parts of the school for creatively captured footage.
Modifications/Accommodation: To meet the needs of all students, I will encourage them to look for various mediums in their sources. Each student will be given the opportunity to discuss and work with their group members to answer questions or clarify information. Also, to accommodate any IEP’s, 504’s, or ELLIDEP’s I will review the needs of the given student and provide an alternative that will suite their learning style. An example of this would be to encourage a student with a low reading level to have their laptop read the information back to them, which will allow them to retain more of the content and allow them to participate fully. Extensions This assignment will help students achieve a higher level of thinking by challenging them to think about the sources that inform us about the happenings of cross cultural clashes in the past and today. Students will be encouraged to consider how each participant in these conflicts records the information about their interactions. For example, the students will need to think about how some sources may contain certain biases because of the people who were writing them and where they were from. By being able to think about this issue, the students will come to understand that in times of cultural conflicts, information about the clash tends to be biased on both sides. Materials, Resources and Technology: I personally will have to gather resources to prepare for this lesson which will give students an idea of the source biases in the Aztec and Spanish conflict. This will require me to find sources and accounts of the Aztec conflict that stem from both societies. Next, I will have to find tutorials that will assist my students in using the iMovie software that will be vital for the making of their videos. I will also have to create a pre-assessment as well as group evaluators. Collecting a graphic organizer for this will also be vital as it will help organize group research better. It will also be important for me to have a list of sources that will aid students in understanding key events in the Aztec/Spanish conflict so that they can find out what they would like to make their news reports about. During the research portion of this lesson the students will be using their text books and internet search engines to uncover more information on their own. In terms of how technology will be used, it will be imperative that I instruct them as to how they will be setting up the iMovie software. As I have used iMovie before it will be very easy for me to assist students in their movie making. ---------- Pre-Assessment Sheets Project Description Handout Wireless Internet Network iMovie software. Venn diagram Graphic Organizer LCD Projector Group Evaluation Sheets Product Rubric Source for lesson plan and research: http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/aztecs1.html a website which includes the Aztec accounts of the Spanish conquest http://ambergriscaye.com/pages/mayan/aztec.html another website with Aztec accounts of the conquest http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/imperialism/notes/cortez.html this website gives us an insight into the points of view of Cortes and how the Spanish told of the conquest of the Aztecs. Maine Standards for Initial Teacher Certification and rationale: Standard 3 - Demonstrates a knowledge of the diverse ways in which students learn and develop by providing learning opportunities that support their intellectual, physical, emotional, social, and cultural development. Rationale: This lesson meets the Maine Standards for Initial teacher certification by taking into a consideration that students learn in different ways and providing them with different learning opportunities. Students will also be following the product rubric to create their newscasts and must stay organized and efficient in their research. Students are also provided with a safe and comfortable learning environment. Any mistreatment or disrespectful attitudes will not be allowed and will be discouraged as they not only are disrespectful to others, but they also disrespect the learning environment. • Standard 4 - Plans instruction based upon knowledge of subject matter, students, curriculum goals, and learning and development theory. Rationale: This lesson meets the Maine Standards for Initial teacher certification by providing students with the proper information they need to complete this project. Students will be introduced to the Aztec and Spanish conflict and the importance of analyzing the biases in the sources for this issue. The students will also be made to think and make modern day connections to this topic by looking at accounts from the War in Iraq and think about how the biases from the Aztec/Spanish conflict compare to this more modern topic. This allows students to make a deeper connection to the subject matter by applying it to their every day life, while still reaching the goals set out in the MLR for this unit. • Standard 5 - Understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies and appropriate technology to meet students’ needs. Rationale: This lesson meets the Maine Standards for Initial teacher certification by meeting the needs of eight different learning strategies. These eight strategies include linguistic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, naturalist, logical, and spatial. The students will also be utilizing a type II technology in the form of their iMovie newscasts which will aid in creating their final product will also help reach students with various learning styles. Each student will be accommodated because their final products will be a multimedia presentation that will accommodate all learning styles. • Standard 8 - Understands and uses a variety of formal and informal assessment strategies to evaluate and support the development of the learner. Rationale: This lesson meets the Maine Standards for Initial teacher certification by assessing students in many different ways and by a variety of individuals. Each group member will be expected to participate fully in the research and collaborative efforts. The students will be assessed on this area of the lesson by filling out group evaluation sheets which will ask questions about how they felt each member of their group worked during the research portion and how they felt that their final product came out. I will also be assessing their effort and participation by circulating the room and observing each student. Students will also be evaluated on the overall quality of their final product. The teacher will go through the rubric and assess whether or not each student has hit the required benchmarks in order to receive a certain score on their product. Students will be given this product rubric when they first begin and will be able to reference this in order to understand what will be necessary to receive the highest possible score. Teaching and Learning Sequence: The students will enter the room and find the class set up with the usual two tables slid together in the back of the class, and two tables up front angled inward on the right and left hand side of the class. When the students enter the teacher will instruct the students to separate themselves based on whether they were in the Aztec or Spanish groups in the previous lesson. Next, I will take two Aztec members and pair them up with two Spanish students until there are four groups of four students. After having paired up all the students, I will ask them to take their seats at the designated group work areas. While the teacher’s desk may be located at the back of the class, the teacher will be giving instruction primarily from the small desk in the font of the class which will hold the LCD projector that the teacher will use to display the various handouts. Agenda: Welcome Hook (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6kQJOLzhvc&feature=related) Group Students Students move tables to group workspaces Lesson Introduction Handout pre-assessment Handout project guidelines Handout product rubric along with the final self evaluation Allow the remainder of class to be spent researching. Check in with groups Send students to their next class The students will enter the room and stand with either their Aztec or Spanish group members from the previous lesson. I will then take two students from each group and create a group through this method until there are four groups of four students. Once this has happened, they will move to separate tables in the room and then move them to the designated work spaces. I will then welcome all of the students and the briefly explain that we will be starting a new lesson that will discuss the Aztec/Spanish conflict and how the sources of this conflict are biased from both sides. It will be important to make them aware that during this lesson each student will understands that they are now in the role of a news team member that has been sent back in time to cover the Aztec/Spanish conflict. I will then show them a brief video which details the coverage of the War in Iraq through the lens of one news company (CNN) which will give an example of how their reporters attempt to remain objective no matter how biased the information from both sides of a conflict may be. This will then help to engage students so I may begin my introduction to the lesson by informing them that through this cross cultural clash, we can come to see some of the blatant biases found in the sources of both participants. Next, I will ask the students to consider that if the sources of this cross-cultural clash are biased on both sides, what would the sources from the War in Iraq look like from both participants? I will ask them to consider throughout this lesson, the fact that we are currently involved in a cross cultural clash in the War in Iraq and the coverage and biases in the sources from this clash is coherent with the accounts from the Aztec/Spanish conflict. As students ponder this question and research their respective events in this conflict, the students will understand the major historical influences and enduring themes from this ancient culture and their cultural conflict relate them to our own modern day society. Where, Why, What, Hook, Tailor: Intrapersonal, Linguistic and Visual (10 minutes) Next, I will explain that in this lesson the various groups will all represent news teams that have been sent back in time to cover the Aztec/Spanish conflict and report back to modern viewers. The students will be expected to present an objective news report covering a specific event in the Aztec/Spanish conflict and compare it to current events in the War in Iraq. The students will then be given pre-assessment questionnaires that will ask very general questions about this topic. The students must choose one of four roles within their groups. The roles are researcher, editor, camera operator, and an on air reporter. The groups will be researching this information in order to complete their product of an iMovie news cast. Their newscast must be authentic in the sense that their product must have the feel as if the students are actually back in time and in the midst of a conflict situation. This will stretch their creativity and how well they researched the information about the conflict and related it to the War in Iraq. Once I have explained the expectations for the final product I will ask the students to fill out their pre-assessment questionnaire which will help me to better understand what they know and what they will need to know during this lesson. One they are all completed, I will collect them from the students and explain that they will not be graded on this assignment, only that these sheets will be used to show them how and what they have learned during this lesson. Once the students have finished with their pre-assessments I will handout their graphic organizer which they will use to record any information vital to their final product. Equip, Explore, Rethink, Tailors: Visual, Linguistic, Intrapersonal (20 minutes) After filling out the pre-assessment questionnaires I will allow each group to obtain their textbooks and laptops to prepare for their research. Each group will have their own tables which they must move to another part of the room to use as their personal workspace which will allow minimal distractions between groups. I will make sure that each group understands that each individual works equally during the group research. This will ensure that all may come to understand the major enduring themes and historical influences while also understanding that the Aztec/Spanish conflict shares common threads with the War in Iraq today. I will explain to the students that through this lesson I will expect the students to be able to understand the connection between cross cultural conflicts between the Aztec and Spanish and the issues surrounding the War in Iraq. Before setting the students to work, I will remind them that they must use their critical thinking skills when looking through the internet for information on this topic and to try and decipher what is appropriate information for their final product. Also, it will be important to remind students that when they have finished researching that they must try and think creatively about how they could create a news report which will include the information they have obtained about their topic. Finally, I will set them to work on their research and make my rounds about the classroom to observe the groups work on their graphic organizers and begin to construct their products. Explore, Experience, Rethink, Revise, Refine, Tailors: Interpersonal, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Intrapersonal, Visual, Linguistic, Naturalist. (45 minutes) . To assess my students I will be giving them a final product rubric that will inform the students that they must follow the criteria listed in the rubric in order to achieve the highest mark possible. This will give my students a clear understanding of what I expect from them and what their product must entail. The final self evaluation will be explained as part of their grade and I will explain that these evaluations should be a reflection on how the student felt that they worked on this product and what they learned. I will explain to them that each group member must participate equally and that through my observations I will be grading them on participation and their efforts during the group research. At the end of class I will make a quick check in with each student to help them assess what is left for them to do in order to complete their newscast. If need be, they may only have to write their newscast for homework, while other individuals may have to stay after school or come in during recess if they are behind with their research or are having any sort of difficulties. It is important for them to know that I will be prompt and available if they need any help or need to discuss an extension. Finally, once all the students have been check up on, I will allow the students to pack up their belongings and head on to their next class. Evaluate, Tailor: Interpersonal, Spatial, Visual, Linguistic (5 minutes)
Teacher’s name: Jason Aceto Date of lesson: 2
Grade Level: 6-8 Topic: Examining how the resulting consequences of cross-cultural interactions in
1512 share common threads with conflicts today.
Objectives: Student will understand that the result of these interactions gave way for further expansion and conquests in later eras.
Student will know and understand the facts surrounding key conquests, battles, events and the rise of expansionism.
Student will be able to create a video newscast detailing the order of events during the Spanish expansion and conquests of the Aztec Empire.
Maine Learning Results Alignment:
Maine Learning Results: Social Studies-E.History
E1 Historical knowledge, concepts, themes and patterns.
Grade 6-8 "The Expansion and Interaction of Civilizations, 600CE-1450CE"
Students understand major eras, major enduring themes, and historic influences in the history of the various regions of the world.
b. Identify and analyze major historic eras, major historical eras, major enduring themes, turning points, events, consequences, and people in the history of the various regions of the world.
Rationale: Through this learning result we can allow students to dive into the enduring themes of this historic era and compare these to the themes of conflicts today.
Assessment:
Formative (Assessment for Learning)
I will have the students fill out self-assessment questionnaires before they form their groups. This will help me to see what they already know and what else they need to know. After they fill these sheets out, I will go over their responses with the entire class. Next, it will be imperative for each student to retrieve their laptops and textbooks in order to begin researching information to complete their summative assessment.
Summative (Assessment of Learning)
In order to assess what the students have learned, each student will be placed in a group with 3 of their peers. They will research a given event in the Aztec/Spanish interactions and create a newscast about it. Then after creating this video and sharing it with the class, they will fill out reflective self-evaluators to judge how well they felt they did on their project and suggest improvements. Also, as a class, each student will fill out the same self-assessment questionnaire to see how their knowledge has grown from their research.
Integration:
This lesson will integrate type II technology in the form of iMovie software. This final product will require the students to utilize this movie making technology and create a creative and historically accurate newscast that will discuss the events that transpired during the Aztec and Spanish conflict. Other forms of technology that will be utilized in the creation and presentation of this final product will be a wireless internet connection and an LCD projector which the students will use to present their newscasts.
The integration of other subjects will come through by way of critical reading and writing skills which the students must utilize during their research. Other English skills that will be integrated will be analysis of documents and creative writing that must be used in the preparing of a script for their news cast. Finally, the students will have to understand the order of events in this cultural clash in order to present a news cast, therefore mathematical skills such as orderly sequential thinking will come into play.
Groupings:
Students will enter the class and they will take their normal seats. I will group them by having the class line up in order of whether they were Aztecs or Spanish in the previous lesson. Then, I will choose two Aztec students and two Spanish students to work together in a group of four. This will ensure that groups will be comprised of members that will be proficient in both points of view in this conflict, therefore allowing their video to be more objective. This grouping will also allow students to collaborate more on their research and utilize what they have learned from past lessons.
Differentiated Instruction:
Linguistic - students will be writing and reading while creating their graphic organizers and while creating the scripts for their newscasts.
Logical - students will be creating a timeline with the chronological order of the events that occurred during the Spanish invasion of the Aztec Empire.
Spatial - students will be working with pictures detailing the Aztec/Spanish conflict which will enable these students to derive critical information about this topic through a different medium.
Bodily-kinesthetic - students will be using the computer to create and to edit their footage in iMovie during the finalization of their newscasts.
Musical - Students will be allowed to create a funky news jingle for the introduction and credits of their broadcast.
Intrapersonal - Students will be working independently on their research.
Interpersonal - Students will be working in groups and then sharing their newscasts with the class.
Naturalist – Students will be able to go outside to film or walk to other parts of the school for creatively captured footage.
Modifications/Accommodation:
To meet the needs of all students, I will encourage them to look for various mediums in their sources. Each student will be given the opportunity to discuss and work with their group members to answer questions or clarify information. Also, to accommodate any IEP’s, 504’s, or ELLIDEP’s I will review the needs of the given student and provide an alternative that will suite their learning style. An example of this would be to encourage a student with a low reading level to have their laptop read the information back to them, which will allow them to retain more of the content and allow them to participate fully.
Extensions
This assignment will help students achieve a higher level of thinking by challenging them to think about the sources that inform us about the happenings of cross cultural clashes in the past and today. Students will be encouraged to consider how each participant in these conflicts records the information about their interactions. For example, the students will need to think about how some sources may contain certain biases because of the people who were writing them and where they were from. By being able to think about this issue, the students will come to understand that in times of cultural conflicts, information about the clash tends to be biased on both sides.
Materials, Resources and Technology:
I personally will have to gather resources to prepare for this lesson which will give students an idea of the source biases in the Aztec and Spanish conflict. This will require me to find sources and accounts of the Aztec conflict that stem from both societies. Next, I will have to find tutorials that will assist my students in using the iMovie software that will be vital for the making of their videos. I will also have to create a pre-assessment as well as group evaluators. Collecting a graphic organizer for this will also be vital as it will help organize group research better. It will also be important for me to have a list of sources that will aid students in understanding key events in the Aztec/Spanish conflict so that they can find out what they would like to make their news reports about. During the research portion of this lesson the students will be using their text books and internet search engines to uncover more information on their own. In terms of how technology will be used, it will be imperative that I instruct them as to how they will be setting up the iMovie software. As I have used iMovie before it will be very easy for me to assist students in their movie making.
----------
Pre-Assessment Sheets
Project Description Handout
Wireless Internet Network
iMovie software.
Venn diagram Graphic Organizer
LCD Projector
Group Evaluation Sheets
Product Rubric
Source for lesson plan and research:
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/mod/aztecs1.html a website which includes the Aztec accounts of the Spanish conquest
http://ambergriscaye.com/pages/mayan/aztec.html another website with Aztec accounts of the conquest
http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/imperialism/notes/cortez.html this website gives us an insight into the points of view of Cortes and how the Spanish told of the conquest of the Aztecs.
Maine Standards for Initial Teacher Certification and rationale:
Standard 3 - Demonstrates a knowledge of the diverse ways in which students learn and develop by providing learning opportunities that support their intellectual, physical, emotional, social, and cultural development.
Rationale: This lesson meets the Maine Standards for Initial teacher certification by taking into a consideration that students learn in different ways and providing them with different learning opportunities. Students will also be following the product rubric to create their newscasts and must stay organized and efficient in their research. Students are also provided with a safe and comfortable learning environment. Any mistreatment or disrespectful attitudes will not be allowed and will be discouraged as they not only are disrespectful to others, but they also disrespect the learning environment.
• Standard 4 - Plans instruction based upon knowledge of subject matter, students, curriculum goals, and learning and development theory.
Rationale: This lesson meets the Maine Standards for Initial teacher certification by providing students with the proper information they need to complete this project. Students will be introduced to the Aztec and Spanish conflict and the importance of analyzing the biases in the sources for this issue. The students will also be made to think and make modern day connections to this topic by looking at accounts from the War in Iraq and think about how the biases from the Aztec/Spanish conflict compare to this more modern topic. This allows students to make a deeper connection to the subject matter by applying it to their every day life, while still reaching the goals set out in the MLR for this unit.
• Standard 5 - Understands and uses a variety of instructional strategies and appropriate technology to meet students’ needs.
Rationale: This lesson meets the Maine Standards for Initial teacher certification by meeting the needs of eight different learning strategies. These eight strategies include linguistic, interpersonal, intrapersonal, musical, bodily-kinesthetic, naturalist, logical, and spatial. The students will also be utilizing a type II technology in the form of their iMovie newscasts which will aid in creating their final product will also help reach students with various learning styles. Each student will be accommodated because their final products will be a multimedia presentation that will accommodate all learning styles.
• Standard 8 - Understands and uses a variety of formal and informal assessment strategies to evaluate and support the development of the learner.
Rationale: This lesson meets the Maine Standards for Initial teacher certification by assessing students in many different ways and by a variety of individuals. Each group member will be expected to participate fully in the research and collaborative efforts. The students will be assessed on this area of the lesson by filling out group evaluation sheets which will ask questions about how they felt each member of their group worked during the research portion and how they felt that their final product came out. I will also be assessing their effort and participation by circulating the room and observing each student. Students will also be evaluated on the overall quality of their final product. The teacher will go through the rubric and assess whether or not each student has hit the required benchmarks in order to receive a certain score on their product. Students will be given this product rubric when they first begin and will be able to reference this in order to understand what will be necessary to receive the highest possible score.
Teaching and Learning Sequence:
The students will enter the room and find the class set up with the usual two tables slid together in the back of the class, and two tables up front angled inward on the right and left hand side of the class. When the students enter the teacher will instruct the students to separate themselves based on whether they were in the Aztec or Spanish groups in the previous lesson. Next, I will take two Aztec members and pair them up with two Spanish students until there are four groups of four students. After having paired up all the students, I will ask them to take their seats at the designated group work areas. While the teacher’s desk may be located at the back of the class, the teacher will be giving instruction primarily from the small desk in the font of the class which will hold the LCD projector that the teacher will use to display the various handouts.
Agenda:
Welcome
Hook (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6kQJOLzhvc&feature=related)
Group Students
Students move tables to group workspaces
Lesson Introduction
Handout pre-assessment
Handout project guidelines
Handout product rubric along with the final self evaluation
Allow the remainder of class to be spent researching.
Check in with groups
Send students to their next class
The students will enter the room and stand with either their Aztec or Spanish group members from the previous lesson. I will then take two students from each group and create a group through this method until there are four groups of four students. Once this has happened, they will move to separate tables in the room and then move them to the designated work spaces. I will then welcome all of the students and the briefly explain that we will be starting a new lesson that will discuss the Aztec/Spanish conflict and how the sources of this conflict are biased from both sides. It will be important to make them aware that during this lesson each student will understands that they are now in the role of a news team member that has been sent back in time to cover the Aztec/Spanish conflict. I will then show them a brief video which details the coverage of the War in Iraq through the lens of one news company (CNN) which will give an example of how their reporters attempt to remain objective no matter how biased the information from both sides of a conflict may be. This will then help to engage students so I may begin my introduction to the lesson by informing them that through this cross cultural clash, we can come to see some of the blatant biases found in the sources of both participants. Next, I will ask the students to consider that if the sources of this cross-cultural clash are biased on both sides, what would the sources from the War in Iraq look like from both participants? I will ask them to consider throughout this lesson, the fact that we are currently involved in a cross cultural clash in the War in Iraq and the coverage and biases in the sources from this clash is coherent with the accounts from the Aztec/Spanish conflict. As students ponder this question and research their respective events in this conflict, the students will understand the major historical influences and enduring themes from this ancient culture and their cultural conflict relate them to our own modern day society. Where, Why, What, Hook, Tailor: Intrapersonal, Linguistic and Visual (10 minutes)
Next, I will explain that in this lesson the various groups will all represent news teams that have been sent back in time to cover the Aztec/Spanish conflict and report back to modern viewers. The students will be expected to present an objective news report covering a specific event in the Aztec/Spanish conflict and compare it to current events in the War in Iraq. The students will then be given pre-assessment questionnaires that will ask very general questions about this topic. The students must choose one of four roles within their groups. The roles are researcher, editor, camera operator, and an on air reporter. The groups will be researching this information in order to complete their product of an iMovie news cast. Their newscast must be authentic in the sense that their product must have the feel as if the students are actually back in time and in the midst of a conflict situation. This will stretch their creativity and how well they researched the information about the conflict and related it to the War in Iraq. Once I have explained the expectations for the final product I will ask the students to fill out their pre-assessment questionnaire which will help me to better understand what they know and what they will need to know during this lesson. One they are all completed, I will collect them from the students and explain that they will not be graded on this assignment, only that these sheets will be used to show them how and what they have learned during this lesson. Once the students have finished with their pre-assessments I will handout their graphic organizer which they will use to record any information vital to their final product.
Equip, Explore, Rethink, Tailors: Visual, Linguistic, Intrapersonal (20 minutes)
After filling out the pre-assessment questionnaires I will allow each group to obtain their textbooks and laptops to prepare for their research. Each group will have their own tables which they must move to another part of the room to use as their personal workspace which will allow minimal distractions between groups. I will make sure that each group understands that each individual works equally during the group research. This will ensure that all may come to understand the major enduring themes and historical influences while also understanding that the Aztec/Spanish conflict shares common threads with the War in Iraq today. I will explain to the students that through this lesson I will expect the students to be able to understand the connection between cross cultural conflicts between the Aztec and Spanish and the issues surrounding the War in Iraq. Before setting the students to work, I will remind them that they must use their critical thinking skills when looking through the internet for information on this topic and to try and decipher what is appropriate information for their final product. Also, it will be important to remind students that when they have finished researching that they must try and think creatively about how they could create a news report which will include the information they have obtained about their topic. Finally, I will set them to work on their research and make my rounds about the classroom to observe the groups work on their graphic organizers and begin to construct their products.
Explore, Experience, Rethink, Revise, Refine, Tailors: Interpersonal, Bodily-Kinesthetic, Intrapersonal, Visual, Linguistic, Naturalist. (45 minutes)
. To assess my students I will be giving them a final product rubric that will inform the students that they must follow the criteria listed in the rubric in order to achieve the highest mark possible. This will give my students a clear understanding of what I expect from them and what their product must entail. The final self evaluation will be explained as part of their grade and I will explain that these evaluations should be a reflection on how the student felt that they worked on this product and what they learned. I will explain to them that each group member must participate equally and that through my observations I will be grading them on participation and their efforts during the group research. At the end of class I will make a quick check in with each student to help them assess what is left for them to do in order to complete their newscast. If need be, they may only have to write their newscast for homework, while other individuals may have to stay after school or come in during recess if they are behind with their research or are having any sort of difficulties. It is important for them to know that I will be prompt and available if they need any help or need to discuss an extension. Finally, once all the students have been check up on, I will allow the students to pack up their belongings and head on to their next class.
Evaluate, Tailor: Interpersonal, Spatial, Visual, Linguistic (5 minutes)